Noah's experience

When I set off on my return to Ghana, the goal was to get our trash collection company (Easy Rano Ltd.) off the ground and functioning before I returned to the states at the end of May. I knew that it would be difficult and there would be a handful of roadblocks which would present themselves, and not surprisingly this has become true. Since I have arrived, my Ghanaian business partner and I (Raphael Kwawu) have been jumping from meeting to meeting (with govt. officials, trash collection companies, owners of landfills, businessmen and women, ministries of you-name-it, and the list goes on…), in order to gain as much concrete knowledge and information as possible. The past govt. (the NPP) was in power for two terms, and recently lost the election to the NDC, which took office at the same time as Obama. Under the NPP’s system, the government did not place much importance on trash collection, and wanted the contractors to make their money by charging individuals and homes only. Specifically what was happening was, the govt. would pledge to pay trash collection companies for trash collected in public areas, but when it came down to it, the companies would have to harass the government, and in the end the government would pay about half of what was owed and the payment would arrive anywhere between 6-12 months late. We are hoping that the NDC will commit resources to Waste Management, because in a country where the majority of people do not have enough money to pay to have their trash collected, outside help is imperative! Unfortunately for us, the NDC has given itself a 100-day trial period in order to get all of the ministers in place and create the blueprints for the next four years (which makes it difficult for us to find anyone who can do more than speculate on the NDC’s plan for trash collection).
Ghana is a beautiful country, filled with citizens who genuinely care for their fellow man and their respective happiness. Unfortunately, this is not completely true in all realms of the society, and one prime example is the business of trash collection, along with many other sectors of business in Ghana. It is an extremely political business, and the main thing that matters is who you know, what connections or influence that person has, and what you can do for that person if they help you out (In case you were wondering, unlike the trash collection business in other parts of the world, one’s involvement does not risk the safety of one’s loved ones or personal property, but instead risks any financial investment, up until the moment that you have signed your name on the contract. This does happen everywhere throughout the world, but the amount of favors, broken promises, people who guarantee things but aren’t in the place to do so, are astonishing). This type of system is not the best way to promote innovations and new beneficial practices, and it’s especially unfortunate that this is the way in which waste management is dealt with in Ghana, because the amount of pollution, littering, improper disposal, and other ill-advised environmental practices are monumental.
We have not given up on trash collection and are hoping that insight into the NDC’s plans will provide more incentive to get involved in doing work in the more impoverished areas, but in the meantime, I have stumbled upon one of the many lessons I have continued to learn while in Ghana: being flexible is extremely important (probably more of a key element to business in developing nations). As I stated initially, my goal is and has been to create an effective trash collection company which will benefit both the society and environment in Ghana, but if there are other more feasible and reliable ways to make an impact, why not give it a try (as the idealistic, aspiring-to-save-the-world side of me stomps on the ground in protest)? Although disappointment plays a role in the equation, the bottom line is that if our team spends 4 months pursuing a goal which is unattainable instead of taking on a more reasonable challenge, any of the benefits we would have provided will be lost. Because of this, we are in the preliminary stages of looking into creating fertilizer from either or both home and garden refuse. Ghana’s main source of income is farming, and virtually all of the fertilizer used is imported from European countries. The goal is to create a compost system which will be financially feasible while decreasing the amount of burned garbage, pollution, and lack of employment (ff we did venture into fertilizer we would benefit by not having to deal with the government as one of our main clients and sources of income).
Our pursuits and efforts, although difficult and intimidating, have overall been exciting as we attempt to find the right path on a terrain which has not been oft traveled. One of the personal challenges I have encountered, is a reflective sense of unassuredness involved in making decisions which affect my livelihood (time and money). In regards to time, spending a year or two in Ghana seems feasible, but what if I would need to be here for five or ten years (and this is not time spent between the states and Ghana, instead time spent in Ghana alone, because as an owner of a company it is highly advisable to always be on site due to the amount of employee mistrust in Ghana [which is both embedded in the culture, and due to extremely low wages])? In regards to finances, I find myself feeling overly reluctant to put down significant amounts of money on a project or economy which lacks the amount of reliability I am used to. There is no doubt that the cultural differences play a large role in my trepidation, but in the same token, this is my first stroke at starting a business and feelings of unassuredness have to be expected.